Today we departed for eastern Iceland. Mostly driving but we did see some interesting things. I will let the pictures speak. Not an easy day for our guide Magnús who had to battle a pretty stiff wind. Learned some interesting things from him though, as we wove through the mountains leaving Reykjavík he told us the government had plans to build tunnels through the mountains to shorten the route but the geothermal temperatures inside the mountains were too high to make the project practical.  He also mentioned that the lack of trees in Iceland is due to cooling that occurred when man first started to settle the island. Man contributed a bit by cutting down trees  but the Little Ice Age did in most of the trees and as a result there are no real forests on Iceland. He said the locals have a saying, if you get lost in an Icelandic forest, don’t panic, just stand up. Too funny!

Tonight we are staying near Hofn, a fishing town in southern Iceland. The tourist industry is starting to boom around here as well due to its proximity to Vatnajökull National Park. Need an investment opportunity? Buy Hofn!

Reynisdrangar near Vik. Legend has it that these are the remains of Trolls dragged a three-masted ship to land, were caught in daylight and became needles of rock.